Weekend in Indiana

Adam, Tobias, and I hit the road this weekend and headed to Indiana to visit my parents and grandfather. Our last few visits to Indiana have been in the winter, so it was nice to visit at the height of summer with the corn stalks high and the sunsets long. Going back this weekend was a nice reminder of the goodness of the Hoosier people (minus Mike Pence…) and the origins of my poor eating habits (pork tenderloins and elephant ears anyone?).

We started the weekend off visiting Bloomington (home of IU) where my parents grew up and I lived until I was 10. We grabbed lunch at a quintessential college-town restaurant with it’s own local brews (and the most unfortunate name – Quaff On). Here’s the pork tenderloin, truffle potato chips, and blonde brew I indulged in.

But our main objective for going to Bloomington was to visit my 97-year-old grandfather. That’s right, 97. He’s the heart and soul of the paternal-side of my family, and we all love him so much.

He’s a living history book! Below is a picture of him in World War II – if you know what my brothers look like – you can definitely see a resemblance!

Here are the most adorable, candid pictures of my grandparents goofing off and loving each other (and now you can see me and my sister’s resemblance to my grandma)!

Together we all spent hours looking at albums full of old photos like these and he still has new stories to tell (his sharp mind no doubt a result from his decades upon decades of poker strategizing). When I listen to him, I get the same feeling I got when I visited the Grand Canyon a few years ago – each individual’s time in history is short and inconsequential, but together, with family and friends and all of humanity, we are part of a grander, more meaningful existence.

We had lots of fun catching up with Grandpa and I can’t wait to see him next!

Then on Sunday, we did as all Hoosiers do in August – go to the Indiana State Fair. I grew up going to the fair every year – one year I threw a fit until my parents bought me a cowhide purse (I won that battle), but Adam has only been a handful of times. Most notably when we were in college and went to the American Idol concert (Jordan Sparks’ year). Here’s a flashback photo of us in 2007 (yes, we made those t-shirts).

Not much has changed at the fair in the last 9 years. We ate the same delicious junk, saw the same cute cows and pigs (not cute enough to make me go vegetarian though), and engaged in the same high quality people-watching. Here are some pics from the sweltering day this past weekend.

My favorite fair treat – elephant ears!

Adam’s favorite fair treat – slushies!

I found a giant recipe card for my favorite pie – Sugar Cream Pie (the official Indiana state pie).

Adam and I under the Midway sign.

We had a full Indiana weekend! It was great to remember the happy times from the 2 years that Adam and I lived there and my childhood/teenage years spent in Bloomington and the southside of Indianapolis. Now if only Hillary can win Indiana in November, I’ll be really proud to be a Hoosier 🙂